Items of clothing are currently known and widely appreciated commercially which are characterized in that they comprise a protective outer envelope and an inner layer which forms an interspace with access holes at the regions of the body where perspiration is generated the most.
The provision of such an item of clothing is disclosed in the documents WO 0101803, EP 1194049 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,263,511, of the same Inventor.
The items of clothing thus produced allow convection of the warm air and vapor normally produced by the body and allow to expel them outwardly by means of holes located in the top region of the items of clothing; devices which keep out water, impurities and others are located at said holes.
Although these items of clothing are appreciated, they have shown limitations which have prevented their even greater diffusion.
The provision of items of clothing with a structure as described above is in fact rather complex and expensive, requiring many operations for cutting and sewing together the different fabrics that constitute the system (at least two: an outer envelope and a layer which forms the interspace, but usually three, including an internal lining, which is substantially always present.).
Often, moreover, said items of clothing do not have a particularly good fit, much less a particular visual impact, and are not always acceptable from an aesthetic standpoint. They appear to be bulkier and more rigid than normal items of clothing of the same type and at the same time make the movements of wearers more difficult.
Even more so, the structure of the item of clothing according to the documents cited above is not suited for items which must have high qualities of softness and comfort, such as knitwear and in particular underwear; these items in fact require particularly soft and physiologically effective fibers.
Another limitation which has been observed is due to the fact that current structures are unable to eliminate any condensed perspiration which has become a liquid, since the interspace is provided with fibers which are not provided specifically for this purpose.
In order to obviate these drawbacks, in the documents EP-1266584, US 2002184927, of the same Inventor, a fabric is disclosed for items of clothing and shoes having a structure which is characterized in that it comprises:
an inner layer, which acts as a lining and comprises material capable of distributing any condensed perspiration over a large surface,
an intermediate spacing layer, which comprises material capable of transferring outwardly the perspiration that has condensed inside the item of clothing,
an outer layer, which comprises material which is capable of distributing condensed perspiration over a very large surface so as to cause its immediate evaporation and consequently regenerate the entire system.
These layers are integrated so as to form a single element.
Although this fabric provides the required improvements of greater comfort, better fit, and simple and inexpensive manufacture and working, it also has aspects which can be improved.
In particular, the inner layer, which is substantially hydrophilic, on the one hand facilitates the distribution of the condensed water vapor over a large surface but on the other hand does not facilitate the escape of the vapor toward the outside of said fabric.
Moreover, such intermediate spacing layer, though being made of fibers which can convey water and vapor and/or vapor without absorbing it and are therefore substantially hydrophobic, is arranged with continuity so as to affect substantially the entire surface of the inner layer.
In this manner, any vapor that passes through the inner layer would have to pass through an intermediate layer which has hydrophobic characteristics but is densely packed with fibers which hinder its outward escape, facilitating unwanted condensation inside or on such fabric.